Chapter 230 - 224 Qinglong No.2_1

But it wasn’t over yet.

That same day, at 5:00 PM, at the Bingzhou Satellite Launch Center.

A CZ-6R2 rocket’s first stage initiated the deceleration program, adjusting its direction toward the recovery station.

This marked the 11th recovery attempt of the "Cloud Open" version of the CZ-6 rocket series, with eight successful recoveries, two failures, and the recent streak of six consecutive successes.

Clearly, the CZ-6’s performance had stabilized, achieving a high recovery rate, but this time, everyone’s nerves were as tight as during the first recovery attempt.

Because this time, the CZ-6 didn’t use leg supports for recovery but grid fins instead.

The R2 denotes a change in the method of recovery.

This was paving the way for future grid fin recoveries for rocket bodies measuring 6 meters and 11 meters in diameter, which were not only more costly to test but also required too much preparation time.

Although the lightness of the CZ-6 might make it more challenging, using it as a test subject was still much easier.

Until now, including supercomputing iterations, the "Cloud Open" recovery control system had reached its sixth generation, with 100 successful simulated landings using grid fins, which led to this live test.

Compared to the past, the recovery posture of the CZ-6 rocket was more robust, descending steadily and smoothly at a slight tilt, approaching the recovery tower that had its two support frames extended.

Then, under the watchful eyes of hundreds expectant spectators, the CZ-6R2 unflinchingly crashed into the recovery tower without slowing down.

The hollow rocket body, upon contact with steel, was instantly bent and broken open, with the remaining fuel escaping and being ignited by the tail flame, concluding the recovery mission in a bright burst of fire.

The violent explosion was heard even by villages nearby, and looking up, one could see a bright spot in the mountains at dusk.

...

"The first recovery attempt of the New Yuan No. 3 rocket’s second stage failed, suspected of a crack in the rocket body."

"The CZ-6’s new recovery method failed on its first trial, with the recovery tower burned down by high temperatures, but without any casualties."

On August 12, 13, and 14, China’s space camp suffered three rocket test failures.

Problems occurred with the CZ-10’s YF77 engines, a preliminary investigation into the CZ-6 hinted at the damned sensor failure again, and as for the New Yuan No. 3...

Guo Shen, Xie Liaofu, Androff, and other New Yuan executives scrutinized the retrieved wreckage of the second stage rocket from the sea.

Falling from over 200 meters, if it had hit the land, there would be nothing left but debris, but the impact point was in the sea, leaving the rocket body largely intact—just internally damaged beyond repair.

The inspection report was out: it wasn’t a crack in the body, the issue lied in the vent of the oxidizer tank, where a small detail had not been addressed properly, leading to a sustained increase in local pressure during the engine shutdown process, which ruptured the insulating layer.

This was New Yuan’s first rocket test failure, and although not a significant issue, it still showed that systems were only technically reliable; the system engineers were not gods.

But from the outside, particularly to NACA and other aerospace organizations, it was a sigh of relief.

The myth of New Yuan’s 100% success rate was finally shattered, with the space agency also facing two pieces of bad news, at last presenting a sense of normalcy in space operations.

Ma Yilong tweeted late into the night @Lin Ju to express his regret over the recent recovery failure, while also praising the attempt as a "milestone" exploration and a "pioneering" step for reusable rockets.

Lockdyne Company also showed up to the media stating that the YF77 is even worse than the J2 hydrogen-oxygen engine used by the Saturn V second stage half a century ago, calling it inherently unreliable and outdated.

Even JAXA boasted about their LE9 hydrogen-oxygen engine, given that the data on the YF77 is even lower, right?

Domestically, the reaction was actually quite mild. The online community, which has begun to be "rational" as the mainstream, did not criticize much, but instead went crazy liking Lin Ju’s Weibo post that said, "Although the recovery failed, we’ve found the reason and obtained complete experimental data."

After all, it wouldn’t be right to say that XAP had never been defeated; a small failure doesn’t count for much.

Even CZ-10 didn’t face too much public pressure, it’s still ahead of SLS, isn’t it?

CZ-6... well, it’s not like we haven’t seen recoverable rockets explode before.

In fact, by August this year, more than 20 recoverable rockets have exploded worldwide, with China accounting for 7 of them.

These 7 rockets came from four private aerospace companies, which decided to try on their own before stubbornly purchasing the recovery system solutions from New Yuan. Only one company’s suborbital rocket succeeded twice due to its maximum altitude of only 10 kilometers, while all others aiming for orbit failed.

The most outrageous one lost control during recovery and directly fell into Whale Sea.

But now they have quieted down, having gradually accepted New Yuan’s mature subsystem sale solutions after June.

Thanks to the openness of the Aerospace Development Committee regarding components, the number of domestic private aerospace companies has increased to 17. They cover everything from deep space equipment to rocket manufacturing, and both the funding and scale are much larger than in the original timeline.

After all, as long as you have money, critical components can be purchased; it’s all about cost control and structural design now. How much lower can the barrier to entry be?

In late August, Blue Sword Aerospace is getting ready to launch the "Qinglong No.2" rocket, which has a diameter of 3.8 meters. Its core stage uses 7 K120V engines, with a total liftoff thrust of 875 tons, lift-off mass of 670 tons, non-recoverable LEO capacity of 27 tons, and recoverable capacity of 20 tons.

This is essentially an enhanced version of Falcon 9. The 9 Merlin 1D engines have been replaced with 7 larger thrust K120V engines, and the second stage uses the more advanced New Yuan 25-ton-class hydrogen-oxygen engine, boasting a particularly high payload ratio.

Falcon 9 is currently priced by Ma at 52 million US dollars per launch. And Qinglong No.2? Their price to the public is 3.5 billion! Just kidding, it’s 57 million US dollars, but the cost per kilogram is only 76% of Falcon 9’s.

Compared to CZ-7, which also uses a 3.35-meter body and has a 20-ton capacity, Qinglong No.2 should be cheaper due to having fewer engines.

Of course, the affordability of Qinglong No.2’s price is just a current promotional gimmick and the behind-the-scenes private capital’s desire to seize the initiative.

million US dollars is definitely the lowest price after considering all factors. There is profit to be made, but the margin isn’t too high.

Because the recovery control system was purchased, the engines were bought, the body requires investment, the second-stage engine must be bought for each use, the supporting facilities also needed to be bought, and even the launch site has to be rented...

But as long as they persist, once they earn money and build their own team, the costs can be reduced significantly. Anyway, Lin Ju believes that with a bit of effort, a profit margin of around 100% is achievable.

Blue Sword is one of the stronger technical players among these private upstarts, but there are also those who make miracles through sheer force where technology falls short:

Evergrande Aerospace.

The name alone indicates which company made the investment. Although they lack technical expertise, they certainly have abundant funding.

From rocket technology to engines, they directly purchase what the Aerospace Development Committee allows for sales and buy design plans. They are rapidly expanding their plants and personnel through ample capital.

Of course, the traditional BAT big three are also itching to make a move, as media reports have more than once suggested their intentions to enter the aerospace field.